SpaceX is holding a news conference at 10 p.m. eastern time tonight to introduce the Dragon V2 capsule, which is the man-ratable crewed version. According to Elon Musk, the capsule presented tonight will be 100% flight hardware and not a mock-up. Considering the tension between the U.S. and Russia over the Ukraine, I bet NASA would really like another way to get to the ISS other than buying rides from the Russians. http://beta.slashdot.org/story/202667

The Russians, yes. A new 3-man ISS crew sent up yesterday on a Soyuz. The two countries are still working together on the space station, although threats are flying. In response to the sanctions over Ukraine, the Russians have threatened to stop selling the NK-33 (aka the Aerojet AJ26-62) and RD-180 engines for any "military" launches. Two of the former engines are used in the first stage of the Orbital Sciences Antares, and one of the latter powers the first stage of the ULA Atlas V. While the Antares doesn't really fly military missions, the Atlas V is a mainstay launcher for the Air Force and the National Reconnaissance Office.

As much as I dig Elon Musk and Tesla Motors, and as glad as I am that he's being righteous here, I think this is a bit of an opportunity lost for the company. I think the five principal backers of the company should have pledged $1.5 million each; that would have resulted in $7.5 million in funding for the museum (which needs $8 million to get built) and a lot of pretty good press for TM.

It has been grown on sheets of aluminium foil which can be seen in pictures released by the company. While the foil is crinkled and uneven, the surface covered by Vantablack appears completely smooth because of its light absorbing property.